International Summer School in Renaissance Medicine - Early Modern Representations of the Body and its Changing Matter, 29-31 March 2019, Italy

Deadline:

January 31, 2019

Disciplines:

Event Date:

March 29, 2019 - March 31, 2019

The Kiln, The Alembic, and The Clockwork

Early Modern Representations of the Body and its Changing Matter

The Centre for the Study of Medicine and the Body in the Renaissance (CSMBR) in cooperation with the University of Padua and the Studio Firmano for the History of Medicine and Science announces an International Summer School

This summer school will explore how the representation of the body and its functions changed from antiquity to the early modern period and how technology altered the perception of what we are as human animals. By adopting three of the most iconic analogies ever used in the history of medicine to represent the human body, The Kiln, the Alembic, and the Clockwork will explore the early modern imagery of the body, in connection to the methods of investigation and its overlapping with disciplines such as alchemy and astronomy. Particular attention will be devoted to processes such as the combination and the concoction of humours (the kiln), distillation and perspiration (the alembic) and the mechanical action of innate heat (the clockwork) whilst considering, for each analogy, the visual impact it exerted on the Renaissance and early modern representation of human physiology.

The summer school is directed to undergraduates, postgraduates as well as PhDs wishing to deepen their knowledge of history of medicine and its connection to other disciplines of knowledge in the early modern period. Sources and papers will be pre-circulated in order for attendees to engage fruitfully in conversation with speakers in a roundtable at the end of the day.

Centre for the Study of Medicine and the Body in the Renaissance

The Centre for the Study of Medicine and the Body in the Renaissance (CSMBR) is an international institute of advanced studies based at the Domus Comeliana in Pisa. It furthers the values of medical humanism and the advancement of human knowledge as particularly related to the historical understanding of medicine and science throughout their development from the Medieval to the Late Renaissance Period (1350-1650).

The CSMBR is run by a Governing Board and by a Scientific Committee that together are in charge of the scientific events, activities organised each year in cooperation with international institutes of research such as:

the UNIVERSITY OF EXETER

the UNIVERSITY OF PADUA

the STUDIO FIRMANO FOR THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SCIENCE

The CSMBR sponsors the series Palgrave Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Medicine

As part of its wider cultural strategy, the CSMBR pays particular attention to the academic career of students (BA, MA) and early career scholars (PhDs, Postdocs). Thanks to the generous endorsement of the Institutio Santoriana – Fondazione Comel the Centre grants each year scholarly prizes and awards in form of Santorio Fellowship for Medical Humanities and Science and Santorio Award for Excellence in Research.

Fundamental Principles

The Centre for the Study of Medicine and the Body in the Renaissance (CSMBR) pursues exclusively scientific and cultural goals and is open to scholars of any nationality, without discrimination of ethnicity, gender, age, political, religious, or sexual orientation.

The CSMBR does not seek or promote any political goals; therefore any activity directly or indirectly related to political aims of any nature (religious, social, economic, sexual, etc.) is structurally incompatible with the strategies of the Centre.

Keynote Speakers:

Vivian Nutton – First Moscow State Medical University

Hiro Hirai – Radboud University

Fabio Zampieri – University of Padua

Fabiola Zurlini – Studio Firmano for the History of Medicine and Science

Registration fee is €244 and includes the cost of all breaks and lunches.